Abstract: Multi-factor authentication (MFA) on a computer configured for robotic process automation (RPA) using task-executing bot(s) includes, responsive to a log-in request from the task-executing bot to a gatekeeping first server, at the task-executing bot, responsive to receiving an MFA challenge from the first server, acquiring a time-dependent MFA security token from a code generating algorithm associated with a pre-authenticated security bot perceived by the first server to be at a different address than the task-executing bot, the security bot having undergone a one-time synchronization at set-up to support RPA during which an association is established between the security and task-executing bots such that the association validates the security bot as a secondary device within MFA to automate subsequent MFA and inserting the time-dependent MFA security token into a reply to the MFA challenge and sending the reply to the first server.

Abstract: FIG. 2 shows an MFA/2FA system (50) in which a computer (52) is tasked with simultaneously implementing one and generally many robotic process automation “RPA” functions. To achieve secure log-in to a server (54) that provides a gatekeeping function to data required for or deliverable by the RPA functions, a security bot (58) having an independent address is initially authenticated as a valid secondary device associated to a different address of a specific task-executing bot (56) that performs a specific RPA function. A token generating algorithm (62) providing synchronised tokens relative to the server (54) is linked, during a set-up procedure, to the address of the security bot (58) such that, when the task-executing bot is challenged by the server during log-in, a token (74) can be obtained by the task-executing bot (56) from the token (74) generating algorithm (62). The task-executing bot (56) is arranged to supply, i.e.